Ottawa Elementary adopts updated CDC guidelines, quarantine reduced to 5 days

Ottawa Elementary adopted the updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to reduce quarantine times for those with COVID-19 or exposed to it to five days now the Illinois State Board of Education made plans to do the same.

Effective Thursday, Ottawa Elementary will implement the new plans for students and staff who are asymptomatic or who have had their symptoms improve significantly.

Students who return to school after five days will be required to sit 6 feet apart from other students at lunch, and this may require schools to assign lunch in a separate setting for quarantine days 6 through 10, according to a Tuesday news release.

Masks are still mandatory inside schools for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.